Earlier today Jennifer Cutler opined that the Vegas Knights could very well be tempted to pick Alexei Emelin from the Canadiens during the expansion draft.
TSN’s Frank Seravalli is reporting that Emelin’s selection by Vegas is not only a possibility, but the likely target.
Got some better intel on #Habs, just to correct an earlier tweet. Looks like VGK is targeting Alexei Emelin – not Davidson.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 21, 2017
Only two journalists expected Emelin to be chosen by the Knights, with the rest predicting either Charles Hudon, Brandon Davidson, or Tomas Plekanec would join the expansion team.
Needless to say, although Emelin’s departure would weaken Montreal’s defensive depth, there’s no doubt that he’s among the best possible options for the Canadiens when it comes to losing a player during the upcoming draft.
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If Emelin is indeed the Knights’ selection, it would yield $4.1M in cap relief, resulting in $23M of cap space for the upcoming season.
